Wi-Fi ENABLED ROUTER HAVING UPLINK BANDWITH SHARING CAPABILITY

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus is provided for forwarding data traffic to a broadband network. The method includes receiving at a local broadband wireless router data traffic to be forwarded to a broadband network and acquiring over a wireless communications link current bandwidth utilization rates for one or more neighboring broadband wireless routers. Based at least in part on the current bandwidth utilization rate of the local router and the current bandwidth utilization rate acquired from the one or more neighboring wireless routers, the data traffic is forwarded to the broadband network over a broadband interface of the local router or to a selected one of the neighboring routers over a wireless interface of the local router.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to wireless communications andmore particularly to a wireless router that processes traffic in awireless local area network (WLAN).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Communication technologies that link electronic devices in a networkedfashion are well known. Examples of communication networks include wiredpacket data networks and wireless packet data networks. For instance,Wired Local Area Networks (wired LANs), e.g., Ethernets, are quitecommon and support communications between networked computers and otherdevices within a service area. Wired LANs also often link serviceddevices to Wide Area Networks, the Internet and other broadbandnetworks.

Wireless packet data networks include cellular telephone networks,wireless LANs (WLANs), and satellite communication networks, amongothers. Relatively common forms of WLANs are IEEE 802.11a networks, IEEE802.11b networks, and IEEE 802.11g networks, referred to jointly as“IEEE 802.11 networks.” In a typical IEEE 802.11 network, a wiredbackbone couples to a plurality of Wireless Access Points (WAPs), eachof which supports wireless communications with computers and otherwireless terminals that include compatible wireless interfaces within aservice area. The wired backbone couples the WAPs of the IEEE 802.11network to other networks, both wired and/or wireless, and allowsserviced wireless terminals to communicate with devices external to theIEEE 802.11 network.

WLANs provide significant advantages when servicing mobile devices suchas portable computers, portable data terminals, and other devices thatare not typically stationary and cannot access a wired LAN connection.WLANs are often deployed inside structures such as homes, offices andpublic and commercial buildings for networking with client mobilecomputers and other client mobile electronic devices. However, WLANsprovide relatively low data rate service as compared to wired LANs,e.g., IEEE 802.3 networks. Currently deployed wired LANs provide up toone Gigabit/second bandwidth and relatively soon, wired LANs willcommonly provide up to 10 Gigabit/second bandwidths. However, because oftheir advantages in servicing portable devices, WLANs are often deployedso that they support wireless communications in a service area thatoverlays with the service area of a wired LAN. In such installations,devices that are primarily stationary, e.g., desktop computers, coupleto the wired LAN while devices that are primarily mobile, e.g., laptopcomputers, couple to the WLAN. The laptop computer, however, may alsohave a wired LAN connection that it uses when docked to obtainrelatively higher bandwidth service.

The WAPs generally include a wireless broadband router and a broadbandmodem. A router, regardless of whether it is wireless or wired,distinguishes data packets according to network protocols and forwardtraffic according to network-level addresses utilizing information thatthe routers exchange among themselves to find the best path betweennetwork segments. As the status of routers change in the network, therouters exchange information to reroute traffic around congested orfailed routers or to route traffic to a newly activated router. Thewireless router also allows connectivity between mobile devices and theWLAN or between one wireless router and another wireless router. Thebroadband modem allows digital data traffic received from the router tobe modulated into an analog signal suitable for transmission to abroadband network over a transmission media such as telephone lines,cable wires, optical fibers, or wireless radio frequencies. Thebroadband modem also re-converts analog signals received from thebroadband network over the transmission medium back into digital datapackets so that they can be forwarded to the router.

Regardless of the bandwidth that is available over a LAN or a WLAN, thebandwidth that is available from either type of network to and from abroadband network (e.g., the Internet) is normally established by aservice provider such as an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Typically,the available uplink bandwidth that is established from the LAN or WLANand the broadband network is less than the downlink bandwidth from thebroadband network and the LAN or WLAN, particularly in the case wherethe broadband network is a DLS network. Significantly, the uplinkbandwidth to the broadband network is often substantially less than thebandwidth available over an 802.11 WLAN network.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention, a method is provided forforwarding data traffic to a broadband network. The method includesreceiving at a local broadband wireless router data traffic to beforwarded to a broadband network and acquiring over a wirelesscommunications link current bandwidth utilization rates for one or moreneighboring broadband wireless routers. Based at least in part on thecurrent bandwidth utilization rate of the local router and the currentbandwidth utilization rate acquired from the one or more neighboringwireless routers, the data traffic is forwarded to the broadband networkover a broadband interface of the local router or to a selected one ofthe neighboring routers over a wireless interface of the local router.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the local routerregisters with its broadband service provider in order to participate inan uplink bandwidth sharing service and queries the broadband serviceprovider for a password needed to acquire the bandwidth utilization ratefor each of the neighboring routers.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the currentbandwidth utilization rates is acquired by polling a plurality ofneighboring wireless routers for their respective bandwidth utilizationrates.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, polling theplurality of neighboring wireless routers is performed in a recurringsequential manner.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, polling theplurality of neighboring wireless routers is performed upon userrequest.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the data traffic isforwarded over the local broadband interface or the local wirelessinterface based on the current bandwidth utilization rates and a levelof service associated with the data traffic.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a broadband wirelessrouter includes a broadband interface for communicating with a broadbandnetwork via a broadband modem and a wireless interface for transmittingtraffic to and receiving traffic from wireless terminals. The broadbandwireless router also includes a routing engine for routing the trafficbetween the wireless terminals and remote terminals in communicationwith the broadband network an uplink traffic controller. The uplinktraffic controller selectively causes traffic to be routed in accordancewith at least one predetermined criterion to the broadband networkthrough either the broadband interface or a second broadband wirelessrouter that is accessed through the wireless interface.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the uplink trafficcontroller includes a bandwidth monitoring module for acquiring over thewireless interface current bandwidth utilization rates for one or moreneighboring broadband wireless routers from which the second broadbandwireless router will be selected.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the bandwidthmonitoring module is configured to poll the neighboring broadbandwireless routers in order to acquire their respective current bandwidthutilization rates.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the predeterminedcriterion includes a local current bandwidth utilization rate withrespect to traffic routed through the broadband interface relative tothe current bandwidth utilization rates for the neighboring routers.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the uplink trafficcontroller selects as the second router a neighboring router having alowest current bandwidth utilization rate of all of the neighboringrouters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative communication system that includes a awireless local area network (WLAN).

FIG. 2 shows one example of a broadband wireless router.

FIG. 3 shows one example of a bandwidth utilization table.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting one example of the uplink routingdecision process that is performed by a local wireless router.

FIG. 5 is a message flow diagram illustrating the manner in which tworouters register with their common ISP and share the uplink bandwidth.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As previously mentioned, many types of broadband networks, particularlyDSL networks, assign each subscriber a fixed amount of uplink anddownlink bandwidth. The uplink bandwidth is typically much less than thedownlink bandwidth. At the same time, the available bandwidth is wastedif the subscriber is not actively accessing the network. As detailedbelow, a subscriber can increase his or her effective available uplinkbandwidth by accessing any excess uplink bandwidth that is not beingused by another nearby router. This can be accomplished in anenvironment where there are multiple wireless routers available thatoverlap in a service area. Wi-Fi routers, for instance, currently haveservice areas that extend upwards of 100 meters. Thus, in an environmentsuch as an apartment or office building, a dormitory, or even in aresidential neighborhood in which individual residences are inrelatively close proximity, there may often be a number of wirelessrouters that overlap in service area. When the uplink bandwidthavailable through a subscriber's own local wireless router isinsufficient, the wireless router can poll its neighboring wirelessrouters over the wireless interface to find one that currently hasunused or excess uplink bandwidth. If such a neighboring router isdiscovered, the subscriber's local router can forward traffic to theneighboring router over the wireless interface. The neighboring router,in turn, will then use its excess uplink bandwidth to forward thetraffic to the broadband network. This can be an efficient mechanism forusing idle uplink bandwidth, particularly since the uplink bandwidth tothe broadband network is often significantly less than the bandwidththat is available when one wireless router communicates with anotherwireless router over a WLAN such as an IEEE 802.11 WLAN.

An illustrative communication system 100 is shown in FIG. 1. Thecommunication system 100 supports Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)communications within one or more WLAN service areas. In this exampletwo broadband wireless routers 102 and 104 are provided, each of whichsupplies WLAN communications for a different WLAN service area. Inparticular, broadband wireless router 102 supports WLAN communicationswithin its service area, which is shown to include wireless terminal114A, wireless terminal 116A (laptop computer), and wireless terminal118B (desktop computer). Likewise, broadband wireless router 104supports WLAN communications within its respective WLAN service area,which is shown to include wireless terminals 114B, 116B, and 118B. Ofcourse, the numbers and types of wireless terminals that may besupported by the broadband routers 102 and 104 vary frominstallation-to-installation. Broadband routers are also sometimesreferred to as residential gateways. As previously mentioned, theservice areas of wireless routers 102 and 104 will overlap if they arein close enough proximity to one another. It should be noted that one ormore of the wireless terminals, such as desktop computer 118B, forinstance, optionally may also be in communication with the wirelessrouters over a wired connection as well as a wireless connection. Inaddition, other terminals (not shown) may only be connected to thewireless routers over a wired connection.

The broadband routers 102 and 104 establish communication between thewireless terminals in their respective WLAN service areas and abroadband network 106 using a broadband modems 122 and 124,respectively. The broadband network 106 may be an xDSL (e.g., ADSL,ADLS2, ADSL2+, VDSL, and VDSL2). Of course, other broadband accessnetworks, including cable data networks such as an all-coaxial or ahybrid-fiber/coax (HFC) network may also be employed. Broadband network106 can provide communications services over Internet 110.

FIG. 2 shows one example of a broadband wireless router 200 such asbroadband wireless routers 102 and 104 shown in FIG. 1. The broadbandrouter 200 includes broadband interface 210, WLAN interface 220, QoSengine 260, uplink traffic controller 270, security module 250, routingengine 230 and traffic processing table 240.

The broadband interface 210 communicates with a broadband modem (e.g.,modems 122 and 124 in FIG. 1) such as a cable modem in the case of acable network or a DSL modem in the case of a DSL network and thusprovides a direct local link to the broadband network (e.g., broadbandnetwork 106 in FIG. 1). A WLAN interface 220 supports WLANcommunications with the wireless terminals in accordance with astandardized communication protocol. The WLAN communication protocol maybe one or more of IEEE 802.11 (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE802.11g, IEEE 802.11n), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX),HomeRF, Ultra Wide Band, Zigbee, and/or another WLAN communicationstandard or protocol. The wireless interface may operate in variousbands including, for instance, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 23 GHz, VHF, andUHF and may further incorporate spread spectrum techniques.

Among other functions it may perform, the WLAN interface 220 segments IPpackets received from the broadband network 106 into radio frames fortransmission to the wireless terminals and reassembles radio framesreceived from the wireless terminals into packets for transmission overthe broadband network. To accomplish this, the WLAN interface 220 willgenerally include a media access control layer (MAC) unit 222 and a PHYunit 224. If the WLAN interface operates in accordance with IEEE 802.11,for instance, the MAC unit 222 appends a MAC header and a frame checksequence (FCS) trailer to a MAC service data unit (MSDU) to form a MAClayer protocol data unit (MPDU). The PHY unit 224 receives the MPDU as aphysical layer service data unit (PSDU) and attaches a physical layerconvergence procedure (PLCP) header, a PLCP preamble, and tail and padbits to form a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), which can betransmitted over a wireless channel. Other wireless protocols willtypically use a MAC unit and a PHY unit in a similar manner.

The broadband router 200 also includes a routing engine 230 having aprocessor for implementing routing algorithms stored in a memory. Therouting engine may also support other well-known router functions andfunctional elements such as an IP/Ethernet or PPPoE connection, WANport, MAC adjustment, DNS proxy, Dynamic DNS, DHCP server, DHCP/BOOTPclient, NAT/NAPT, virtual server, and DMZ hosting. A traffic processingtable 240 includes routing tables and forwarding tables that areemployed by the routing algorithms in the routing engine 230.

A security module 250 provides network security mechanisms on both thebroadband network side and the WLAN side. On the broadband network side,such security mechanisms may include layer 2/3/4 access control,firewall, packet filtering, DoS prevention, and intrusion detection. Onthe WLAN side, various security options may be provided such as WEP with64/128-bit of key, WEP plus 802.1x/RADIUS authentication, WPA with802.1x/RADIUS authentication & key management, and WPA with presharedkey mode.

The QoS engine 260 manages transmission resources within the broadbandrouter 200. The QoS engine 260 may include a dynamic flow manager, aperformance monitor, a dynamic bandwidth estimator and a multipledimension resource queuing system for processing and handling traffic.The dynamic bandwidth estimator determines the local uplink and downlinkbandwidth usage between the router 200 and the broadband network 106 atany given time.

In order to facilitate uplink bandwidth sharing with neighboringwireless routers, the broadband wireless router 200 includes an uplinktraffic controller 270. In this example the uplink traffic controller270 includes a polling module 273 and a bandwidth comparator 275. Thepolling module 273 polls, queries or otherwise scans neighboring routersvia the WLAN interface 220 to obtain their respective bandwidthutilization rates, which reflects the percentage of total availablebandwidth currently being used. The polling module 273 may pollneighboring routers on some periodic basis, upon user request, wheneverthe LOCAL uplink utilization rate exceeds a predetermined threshold, orany combination thereof If the polling module polls on a periodic basis,the period that is employed may be configured by the end user or theservice provider. The polling module 273 also responds to requestsreceived from neighboring routers for its own LOCAL bandwidthutilization rate, which is available from the dynamic bandwidthestimator associated with QOS module 260. While the polling module 273has just been described in terms of pull technology in which the initialrequest for the bandwidth utilization rate originates with the client(i.e., the local router), the polling module 273 may also use a pushtechnology to push or transfer this information to the local router fromthe neighboring routers.

The bandwidth comparator 275 associated with uplink traffic controller270 is used to compare the current local bandwidth utilization rate ofthe local router with the bandwidth utilization rate of the neighboringrouters. Based on the comparison, and possibly other factors that willbe discussed below, the uplink traffic controller 270 will decidewhether to transmit traffic to the broadband network over its own localbroadband interface 210 or over a wireless link to one of theneighboring routers, which in turn will then transmit the packet(s) overits own broadband interface.

The routing decision performed by the local router to determine if apacket is to be transmitted to the broadband network by the local routeror a neighboring router may take into account any of a wide variety offactors. For example, in some implementations, the routing decision maybe based on the following three criteria. First, all real-time traffic(e.g., voice, video) in this example is always transmitted over thelocal broadband interface. In this way latency problems caused byforwarding such traffic to a neighboring router can be avoided. Second,for all non-real-time traffic (e.g., best-effort traffic), the localrouter will route the traffic to a neighboring router when the localbandwidth utilization rate exceeds a certain level (e.g., 95% ofcapacity) and the neighboring router has a bandwidth utilization ratebelow a certain level (e.g., 50%). If more than one neighboring routersatisfies this second criterion, then the neighboring router with thelowest bandwidth utilization rate may be employed. Third, theneighboring router's bandwidth is always guaranteed to be available forits own subscriber's traffic. That is, this third and final criterionensures that each router gives priority to its own local traffic overany traffic received from a neighboring router.

FIG. 3 shows one example of a bandwidth utilization table that has beenprepared by the uplink traffic controller 270. In this example the localrouter's current uplink bandwidth utilization rate is 97% of capacity.The local router has discovered and polled three neighboring routers,denoted routers 1, 2 and 3. Router 1 has a bandwidth utilization rate of10%, router 2 has a bandwidth utilization rate of 90%, and router 3 hasa bandwidth utilization rate of 30%. If the local router were to makeits routing decision based on the three criteria set forth above, thenany additional best-effort traffic it needs to route to the broadbandnetwork will be routed through router 1. Of course, additional factorsmay be taken into account when selecting an appropriate neighboringrouter to which traffic will be forwarded. For instance, the strength ofthe wireless signals that the local router receives from the neighboringrouters may be taken into account. In particular, in some cases onlyneighboring routers with a signal strength above some threshold valuewill be considered as candidates, regardless of their bandwidthutilization rate.

FIG. 4 is one example of a flowchart depicting the uplink routingdecision process that is performed by a local router. The process beginsin step 410 when the local router receives a packet that is to bedelivered to the broadband network. At decision step 420 the localrouter examines the packet's class of service to determine if the packetis designated as best effort traffic or real-time traffic. If the packetis real time traffic, the process proceeds to step 430 where the localrouter selects its own broadband interface through which the packet willbe routed in step 440. On the other hand, if at decision step 420 thelocal router determines that the packet is designated as best efforttraffic, the process proceeds to decision step 450 where the localrouter determines if its current local bandwidth utilization rate isgreater than some threshold value, which in this example is 95% ofcapacity. If its current local bandwidth utilization rate is below thethreshold, then the process continues to step 430, where the localrouter once again selects its own broadband interface through which thepacket will be routed in step 440. If however the current localbandwidth utilization rate is above the threshold, then the processcontinues to step 460 where the local router examines the bandwidthutilization rate of the neighboring routers to determine if any of themhave available bandwidth. If no such bandwidth is available, then theprocess yet again proceeds to steps 430 and 440 where packet is routedthrough the local broadband interface. However, if neighboring routersdo have available uplink bandwidth then the process proceeds fromdecision step 460 to step 470, at which one of neighboring routers isselected in accordance with pre-established criteria. For instance,using the bandwidth utilization table shown in FIG. 3 as an example, thelocal router may select router 1 since it has the lowest bandwidthutilization rate. Finally, at step 440 the packet is transmitted torouter 1 so that it can be forwarded to the broadband network over thebroadband interface of router 1. It should be noted that since in thisexample the routing decision is made on a packet by packet basis, asingle message or file may be transmitted to the broadband network overtwo or more different broadband interfaces associated with differentwireless routers.

Security concerns will often require that each wireless router onlyparticipates in uplink bandwidth sharing when this service is desired bythe subscriber. This can be accomplished by having the subscriberregister its router with his or her broadband service provider (e.g., anInternet Service Provider or ISP). In the simplest case, both the localrouter and the neighboring router have the same service provider. FIG. 5is a message flow diagram illustrating the manner in which two routers500 and 600 register with their common ISP and router 500 establishescommunication with router 600 for the purpose of sharing the uplinkbandwidth of router 600.

As indicated by arrows 1, routers 500 and 600 register for the uplinkbandwidth sharing service offered by ISP 550 via their respectivebroadband interfaces 510 and 610. At some later time when router 500desires to query neighboring routers for its current bandwidthutilization rate, router 500 begins a discovery process to identify itsneighboring routers. This can be accomplished by receiving over WLAN 520an identifier that is transmitted by the WLAN interface 620 of router600, as indicated by arrow 2. In implementations that employ IEEE 802.11interfaces, the identifier may be the Service Set Identifier (SSID) ofthe router 600, which is normally broadcast by routers in a beacon modeso that they can be identified by wireless devices (e.g., laptops, PDAs)that which to attach to them. Under the direction of its polling module,router 500 then sends a query to the ISP 550 asking for the password ofrouter 600, as indicated by arrow 3. The query will include theidentifier (e.g., the SSID) of router 600. Assuming both routers 500 and600 have properly registered for the uplink bandwidth sharing service,the ISP 550 returns the password to router 500 (indicated by arrow 4)and router 500, in turn, forwards the password to router 600 over itsWLAN interface 520 (indicated by arrow 5). At this point routers 500 and600 have established communication with one another and router 500 canquery router 600 for its bandwidth utilization rate and, if desired,subsequently forward traffic to router 600 for transmission to thebroadband network.

If the local router and the neighboring router have different serviceproviders, the local router will query its local service provider forthe password of the neighboring router, similar to message flow indictedby arrow 3 in FIG. 5. The local service provider, in turn, will contactthe service provider of the neighboring router to acquire its password.Once the local service provider has received the password of theneighboring router it will forward the password to the local router. Theremainder of the process is otherwise largely the same as depicted inFIG. 5. The different service providers will generally need to have anagreement in place in order to implement this process in which thepasswords of registered wireless routers are shared between them. Theterms of such an agreement may be incorporated in a Service LevelAgreement (SLA), which is a type of contract service providers oftenexecute to specify the levels of availability, serviceability,performance, operation, or other attributes of the services that theywill provide to one another.

The steps of the processes described above, including but not limited tothose performed by the broadband wireless router, may be implemented ina general, multi-purpose or single purpose processor. Such a processorwill execute instructions, either at the assembly, compiled ormachine-level, to perform that process. Those instructions can bewritten by one of ordinary skill in the art following the descriptionprovided herein and stored or transmitted on a computer readable medium.The instructions may also be created using source code or any otherknown computer-aided design tool. A computer readable medium may be anymedium capable of carrying those instructions and include a CD-ROM, DVD,magnetic or other optical disc, tape, silicon memory (e.g., removable,non-removable, volatile or non-volatile), and/or packetized ornon-packetized wireline or wireless transmission signals.

A broadband wireless router has been described that can utilize excessuplink bandwidth that is not being used by one or more neighboringbroadband wireless routers. In this way the uplink bandwidth of thebroadband wireless router can be effectively increased.

1. At least one computer-readable medium encoded with instructionswhich, when executed by a processor, performs a method including: (a)receiving at a local broadband wireless router data traffic to beforwarded to a broadband network; (b) acquiring over a wirelesscommunications link current bandwidth utilization rates for one or moreneighboring broadband wireless routers; and (c) based at least in parton the current bandwidth utilization rate of the local router and thecurrent bandwidth utilization rate acquired from the one or moreneighboring wireless routers, forwarding the data traffic to thebroadband network over a broadband interface of the local router orforwarding the data traffic to a selected one of the neighboring routersover a wireless interface of the local router.
 2. The computer-readablemedium of claim 1 further comprising: registering the local router withits broadband service provider in order to participate in an uplinkbandwidth sharing service; and querying the broadband service providerfor a password needed to acquire the bandwidth utilization rate for eachof the neighboring routers.
 3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1wherein acquiring the current bandwidth utilization rates furthercomprises polling a plurality of neighboring wireless routers for theirrespective bandwidth utilization rates.
 4. The computer-readable mediumof claim 3 wherein polling the plurality of neighboring wireless routersis performed in a recurring sequential manner.
 5. The computer-readablemedium of claim 3 wherein polling the plurality of neighboring wirelessrouters is performed upon user request.
 6. The computer-readable mediumof claim 1 further comprising forwarding the data traffic over the localbroadband interface or the local wireless interface based on the currentbandwidth utilization rates and a level of service associated with thedata traffic.
 7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6 wherein thedata traffic includes real-time and non-real-time data traffic, andfurther comprising forwarding the real-time traffic to the broadbandnetwork over the local broadband interface and forwarding thenon-real-time traffic in accordance with (c).
 8. A broadband wirelessrouter, comprising: a broadband interface for communicating with abroadband network via a broadband modem; a wireless interface fortransmitting traffic to and receiving traffic from wireless terminals; arouting engine for routing the traffic between the wireless terminalsand remote terminals in communication with the broadband network; and anuplink traffic controller for selectively causing traffic to be routedin accordance with at least one predetermined criterion to the broadbandnetwork through either the broadband interface or a second broadbandwireless router that is accessed through the wireless interface.
 9. Thebroadband wireless router of claim 8 wherein the uplink trafficcontroller includes a bandwidth monitoring module for acquiring over thewireless interface current bandwidth utilization rates for one or moreneighboring broadband wireless routers from which the second broadbandwireless router will be selected.
 10. The broadband wireless router ofclaim 9 wherein the bandwidth monitoring module is configured to pollthe neighboring broadband wireless routers in order to acquire theirrespective current bandwidth utilization rates.
 11. The broadbandwireless router of claim 9 wherein the at least one predeterminedcriterion includes a local current bandwidth utilization rate withrespect to traffic routed through the broadband interface relative tothe current bandwidth utilization rates for the neighboring routers. 12.The broadband wireless router of claim 9 wherein the uplink trafficcontroller selects as the second router a neighboring router having alowest current bandwidth utilization rate of all of the neighboringrouters.
 13. The broadband wireless router of claim 9 wherein the uplinktraffic controller is configured to query a broadband service providerwith which it is registered for a password needed to acquire thebandwidth utilization rates from each of the neighboring routers. 14.The broadband wireless router of claim 12 wherein the uplink trafficcontroller causes the traffic to be routed to the second router when alocal current bandwidth utilization rate with respect to traffic routedthrough the broadband interface is above a first threshold value and thesecond router has a current bandwidth utilization rate below a secondthreshold value.
 15. The broadband wireless router of claim 13 whereinthe query includes an identifier for each of the neighboring routers.16. The broadband wireless router of claim 15 wherein the identifier isa Service Set Identifier (SSID).
 17. The broadband wireless router ofclaim 11 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion furtherincludes signal strengths associated with signals received from theneighboring routers.
 18. The broadband wireless router of claim 8wherein the traffic that is selectively routed by the uplink trafficcontroller is non real-time traffic.
 19. A method for forwarding datatraffic to a broadband network, comprising: (a) receiving at a localbroadband wireless router data traffic to be forwarded to a broadbandnetwork; (b) acquiring over a wireless communications link currentbandwidth utilization rates for one or more neighboring broadbandwireless routers; and (c) based at least in part on the currentbandwidth utilization rate of the local router and the current bandwidthutilization rate acquired from the one or more neighboring wirelessrouters, forwarding the data traffic to the broadband network over abroadband interface of the local router or forwarding the data trafficto a selected one of the neighboring routers over a wireless interfaceof the local router.
 20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:registering the local router with its broadband service provider inorder to participate in an uplink bandwidth sharing service; andquerying the broadband service provider for a password needed to acquirethe bandwidth utilization rate for each of the neighboring routers. 21.The method of claim 19 wherein acquiring the current bandwidthutilization rates further comprises polling a plurality of neighboringwireless routers for their respective bandwidth utilization rates. 22.The method of claim 21 wherein polling the plurality of neighboringwireless routers is performed in a recurring sequential manner.
 23. Themethod of claim 21 wherein polling the plurality of neighboring wirelessrouters is performed upon user request.
 24. The method of claim 20further comprising forwarding the data traffic over the local broadbandinterface or the local wireless interface based on the current bandwidthutilization rates and a level of service associated with the datatraffic.